Letter from my senator

[MaxIBoy]

Remember when Senator Diane Fienstein introduced some stuff into legislation which threatened net neutrality? I wrote her a letter a while back, and she was nice enough to get back to me.


Dear Mr. (I removed my last name:)



I appreciate you taking the time to share your views with me regarding the amendment I introduced to H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (P.L. 111-5). I understand your concerns, and I welcome the opportunity to respond.



Unfortunately there are a lot of bad actors who, if given the chance, will exploit children and conduct illegal activity via the Internet. During the stimulus debate on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, I introduced a narrowly crafted amendment that would give Internet Service Providers that receive government grants the ability to deter child pornography, copyright infringement and other unlawful activity. This amendment did not mandate any actions by Internet Service Providers and was simply a means to ensure that we continue to expand access to the Internet while trying to curb illegal activity. Ultimately, the amendment was not included in the bill.



Please know that I agree with the general principles of network neutrality that owners of the networks that provide access to the Internet should not control how consumers lawfully use that network and should not be able to discriminate against content provider access to that network. Be assured that should legislation regarding network neutrality come before the Senate, I will be sure to keep your specific views in mind.



Again, thank you for contacting me. If you should have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to call my Washington, D.C. staff at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.


Sincerely yours,

Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

Further information about my position on issues of concern to California and the Nation are available at my website http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/. You can also receive electronic e-mail updates by subscribing to my e-mail list at http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ENewsletterSignup.Signup.

I think it's great that I actually got an answer from her and that she was so nice about it (I've kind of regretted the way I phrased that letter I sent her.)

Anyway, I'd just like to say that sometimes these people get a bad reputation, probably undeservedly so.

[mxboy15u]

Glad to see someone is listening and responding.

[floborg]

There's a good chance that wasn't really her. Many of these Congresspeople never lay eyes on the bills they vote on or letters they "respond" to - it's all handled by assistants and automatic signature machines.

Still, it's a nice gesture - whomever sent it to you.

[gsp8181]

I live in the EU and people here seem to give more of a damn about Net Neutrality than the US. Shame Sarkozy and Brown don't think along the same lines :(

[calvinps]

I live in the EU and people here seem to give more of a damn about Net Neutrality than the US. Shame Sarkozy and Brown don't think along the same lines :(

What do you mean?

[Rainstride]

Still, it's a nice gesture - whomever sent it to you.

except for the fact that you are being ignored completely.

[Rainstride]

I live in the EU and people here seem to give more of a damn about Net Neutrality than the US. Shame Sarkozy and Brown don't think along the same lines :(

we care, but our politicians don't :(.

[Firestem4]

ROFL...I got the EXACT same message.

However, like you I wasn't very nice about the way I worded it. (No, i didn't use any profanity. I just mean i was using a very biased and irritated attitude)

[MaxIBoy]

For every time that form letter gets sent, somewhere a number increments.

She probably realized she was getting a lot of letters about the same topic, wrote a letter about it, and now clerks are sorting out the letters and replying to them.


Still, if she realizes she's gotten hundreds of "net neutrality" letters, she's going to keep that in mind, more than if she only got twenty.



I know I couldn't manage to reply to every single letter. She was nice enough to make a statement on the subject... now we know where things stand.



And we should point out that all filtering methods are ultimately useless, because encryption is very effective. I'm going to get started on another letter.

[samjh]

Remember when Senator Diane Fienstein introduced some stuff into legislation which threatened net neutrality? I wrote her a letter a while back, and she was nice enough to get back to me.

...

I think it's great that I actually got an answer from her and that she was so nice about it (I've kind of regretted the way I phrased that letter I sent her.)

Anyway, I'd just like to say that sometimes these people get a bad reputation, probably undeservedly so.

Sounds like a form letter.

Do not be fooled. Read her wording carefully (bolded lettering added by me):

Please know that I agree with the general principles of network neutrality that owners of the networks that provide access to the Internet should not control how consumers lawfully use that network and should not be able to discriminate against content provider access to that network.So... what is her definition of something that is not lawful? Peer-to-peer file transfers? Political criticism? Distribution of materials about self-defence? Discussions on terrorism? Chemistry professors trading emails about the latest explosive compound? American involvement in foreign peace-keeping missions?

[Rainstride]

we're talking about people who want to make the bittorrent protocol illegal completely.

[Kareeser]

I also sent a irritated letter to my local MP (that's what they're called in Canada), not about Net Neutrality, but along those same lines.

I hope I can get a response (even if it's a canned one) too!

[wmcbrine]

I think it's great that I actually got an answer from her and that she was so nice about it (I've kind of regretted the way I phrased that letter I sent her.)Let me assure you, they answer you nicely (if they answer at all) pretty much no matter what you say. Also, they don't write any of these letters personally.

[CarpKing]

They do, however, take note of what letters they receive from constituents and what views they espouse. They may not personally read your well-crafted arguments, but they will assume that each letter they receive on a particular issue is representative of many more people who share that view but didn't write. So even if they don't read the individual letter, it may still influence their voting if they receive many letters on a topic.

[MaxIBoy]

Exactly, it's like a poll.

[days_of_ruin]

Senators really don't care how many angry letters people send unless
it might mean they don't get re-elected. And considering she is in a
heavily democratic state where she is guaranteed her seat why listen to joe shmoe?